I've been a SansAmp user for about two years now, I initially got hold of the SansAmp Bass Driver DI to use as an overdrive that wouldn't be too harsh, however I soon found that my bass sounded so good with it on that I never turned it off!
That's why I upgraded to this bad boy!
The SansAmp Programmable Bass Driver is essentially a three channel version of the original Bass Driver. It still uses full analog sounds but with digital controls, best of both worlds. With this new pedal it allows me to set three bass tones which are normally my standard tone with a little bit of grit, an overdrive tone, and an old school bass heavy tone.
The ability to easily switch between the three is invaluable when playing a 2 hour covers gig with a set list that spans the past 50 years! It's really easy to dial in a good tone (actually I don't think I've ever gotten a bad sound out of it!) and the simple controls lay out makes it an essential gig tool.
Construction wise it's built like a tank too, mine lives permanently strapped to my board but even still I'm pretty sure it could withstand a meteor strike.
The only down sides to this pedal are firstly the size, it's a bit of a whopper! Although it's massive footprint on the board was compensated by me no longer needing my EHX Mole or an overdrive pedal. The second problem is that with the new digital layout there can be a few seconds delay between turning one of the controls and hearing the results of what have changed, also levelling the master volume between the three can be a bit long winded once you've set your sounds. This being said though it is well worth the time to do it (which isn't that long really!) and once it's done the settings are all saved so just need minor tweaking for different rooms!
Overall I would highly recommend this pedal to anyone looking to improve they're tone and flexibility of their live sound. I never even got started on how this beast works as a DI either!
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